The problem with blogging.

Southpaw · Nov 9, 2009

I suck at proofing. Give me a month to review it and edit, and that's okay. With blogging you write it and post it, like usually the same day. It is very nerve-wracking because since I'm an aspiring author it's sorta important to not sound like an idiot.

Deleted member 42 · Nov 9, 2009

You can go back and edit; I do, all the time.

My prose, is, of course, flawless. All the grammar and spelling errors, and any comma indulgences are ah, introduced by the Internet, of course . . .

SeattleGhostWriter · Nov 9, 2009

Southpaw said:
I suck at proofing. Give me a month to review it and edit, and that's okay. With blogging you write it and post it, like usually the same day. It is very nerve-wracking because since I'm an aspiring author it's sorta important to not sound like an idiot.

Here is a very good idea, and one that I am going to start doing myself.

List out different topics you want to post on your blog.

Research, draft up, and do as much revising and editing as possible

Then, once you have enough to post, then every day, start posting one. Or, once a week, post one. Each time, you continue to work on a new one.

James81 · Nov 10, 2009

Meh, I write my post, and then I go through and read it twice to edit. Then I post it and read the finished product as it stands.

This process usually works pretty well for me. It's a rare occasion that I catch a glaring mistake in that "after-published" reading.

I don't worry so much about piddly mistakes on a blog, cause nobody is expecting you to win a pulitzer in a blog post.

Southpaw · Nov 10, 2009

Thanks for all the advice, but those piddly mistakes just erk me.

laharrison · Nov 10, 2009

I really wouldn't worry about them

Just correct them when you see them.

Anyone worth working with will understand that people make mistakes. There's a big difference between not taking any care at all over your writing, and making a simple typo / missing something when proofing on a computer screen.

I write non fiction, and my editor says that the best authors are the ones who are busy - because that means they're less prone to being perfectionists. They know when to stop tweaking, they don't stress over every single minute detail. They do their job (conveying the information), and let the publisher do the polishing in copy editing / proofing.

It may be different in fiction, but I think he has a point - if you spend too long worrying about typos on your blog, that's time that could have been spent tightening up a chapter of your current story.

WWWWolf · Nov 11, 2009

This may not unfortunately help with real problems, but I've got a few feelings that usually rear their heads when I try to write something and get caught up fixing things and fiddling with stuff that doesn't really help the cause:

Explanation 1, which I favoured some time ago:
Blogging is a postmodern medium! If you can still comprehend it tomorrow, you're not postmodern enough!

Explanation 2, which I favour today, but not maybe tomorrow when the Sun is up again:
Nobody reads this stuff anyway and whoever reads this stuff will hate me despite of my best intentions, whoever said that blogs are going to revolutionarise media was obviously out of their minds, web 2.0 social media is utter bunk and rubbish. And I'm a massive hypocrite for not living up to my own standards and probably the worst blogger ever, no matter what standard you're looking at. But in the end, what really matters is that what we were trying to say was said.

Explanation 3, probably a good advice everywhere:
It's just a blog post.

The Grump · Nov 13, 2009

Proofing is my big problem too. In fact, I think most of my stats come from me editing after I've published. -- I just see the mistakes better in a more "published" format.

benbradley · Nov 13, 2009

My problem is having something to say. I haven't even tweeted in days.

Laurie PK · Nov 15, 2009

I know what you mean, about finding something to say! I've been struggling with that myself lately.....but I got a couple of mean comments on two of my blogs in the past 3 months, so I'm feeling gun shy I think. But -- it's been 3 months; I have to get over it!

Finding typos or choppy sentences after publication is part of the blogging -- and writing -- game, I think. Few articles or books are as perfect as the author hopes for, and part of being a successful writer is accepting that your name will be attached to flawed work!

That's what I tell myself when I spot errors in my blog posts or magazine articles, anyway ;-)

Matt Willard · Nov 22, 2009

I suspect I make more grammar mistakes than I care to know about in my work. That's just nitpicking at this point, because it's clean enough for me to get it out the door.

Hittman · Nov 22, 2009

Thanks for all the advice, but those piddly mistakes just erk me.

Me too. Not on someone else's blog – those I just shrug off – but on mine.

Fortunately, it's easy to edit. Friends will often point them out. Sometimes they go unnoticed for a long time. Either way, I just fix them and move on, determined to never make that particular mistake again. And then I make it again.

I've been struggling with that myself lately.....but I got a couple of mean comments on two of my blogs in the past 3 months, so I'm feeling gun shy I think.

I love mean comments. That means you hit a nerve, and it often inspires other people to come to your defense, making the comments section lively.

But -- it's been 3 months; I have to get over it!

Just don't do the "Sorry I haven't blogged lately. My dog had kidney stones and I had a flat gas and ran out of tires and…" post. Visitors don't care about any of that stuff – they're in a hurry. Get to the meat of your article in the first sentence.

AuburnAssassin · Nov 22, 2009

I swear, I never catch my mistakes until I click "Publish" then there they are, no matter how many times I peruse, save as draft, etc. Murphy's Law of Blogging, I guess.

Ms Hollands · Nov 22, 2009

I think it's easier to pick up typos etc. in a blog entry once it's published. My eyes seem too well-adjusted to the editing screen to pick up any problems. Seeing the text laid out as a blog entry helps me because the typeface is different which alters the text layout and challenges my eyes to notice more things.

The Grump · Nov 23, 2009

Glad to see others see more typos after they "publish" their blogs -- no matter how many times they proof in the editing sceens. I don't feel like such a doofus.

Hittman · Nov 23, 2009

My two biggest errors are spelling - the spell checker selects a honymom and and accept it - and missing words. The problem is when I read it I know what I meant, and 'see" the word there. That's the hardest one for me to spot.

Bluegate · Nov 23, 2009

Hittman said:
My two biggest errors are spelling - the spell checker selects a honymom and and accept it - and missing words. The problem is when I read it I know what I meant, and 'see" the word there. That's the hardest one for me to spot.

Ah yes, the curse of the missing word. I also suffer from this affliction.

nighttimer · Dec 27, 2009

Finding something to say is a bigger issue for me than how I say it. Blogging just to say I did feels like I'm whoring myself when I know I'm not doing my best work.

Matera the Mad · Dec 29, 2009

Don't write it in the blog. Write today, proofread tomorrow, paste whenever. And re-edit whenever. Nobody's watching over your shoulder.

Deleted member 42 · Dec 29, 2009

AuburnAssassin said:
I swear, I never catch my mistakes until I click "Publish" then there they are, no matter how many times I peruse, save as draft, etc. Murphy's Law of Blogging, I guess.

Yeah, see what I mean? That's exactly what I'm talking about! Teh Internets introduce the errors . . .

Southpaw · Dec 31, 2009

nighttimer said:
Finding something to say is a bigger issue....

True, I am running into that problem, but it does make worry about typos less...worrisome.

Frodo · Jan 1, 2010

I'm not alone!!!!

It's also easier to see mistakes after a few days, when you go back and read a published post. Don't all the experts say that a writer should put their stuff in a drawer for a couple of week before sending stuff to an editor?

Is blogging more relaxed? I guess the blogger has to decide.

Capes&Corsets · Jan 2, 2010

Gah! That happens to me. I always check through my posts, only to notice the typos later on.

nighttimer · Jan 2, 2010

Frodo said:
I'm not alone!!!!

It's also easier to see mistakes after a few days, when you go back and read a published post. Don't all the experts say that a writer should put their stuff in a drawer for a couple of week before sending stuff to an editor?

Is blogging more relaxed? I guess the blogger has to decide.

Sometimes it's just easier to see the mistakes of others than your own. That is the real problem about blogging. There's no editors, proofreaders or anyone else to tell you, "Uh, this really could use another rewrite."

It's kind of like getting dressed in the dark and because everything seems to be right you don't notice that you're wearing a shirt inside-out and the pair of socks you have on are mismatched.

All your mistakes are your own and there's no one to blame but your own trifling ass. :e2smack:

unthoughtknown · Jan 2, 2010

Bluegate said:
Ah yes, the curse of the missing word. I also suffer from this affliction.

So do I. Big time.

The problem with blogging.

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Deleted member 42

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